


Following the Fox

by theFryeMeister



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Wizards, Eventual Romance, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Magic, Multi, Mystery, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Teen Romance, Wizarding World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-02-05 05:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12788379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theFryeMeister/pseuds/theFryeMeister
Summary: On their first day, Harper and Emmett agreed they would take on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry together as a duo. Three years later, they're still Ravenclaw's most reckless and charming tandem, but their friendship is tested as their endeavours diverge.Harper is out to be Hogwarts' most feared duelist, meanwhile, Emmett is out to solve the mystery of the Legendary Fox.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I ~obviously~ do not own the idea of Hogwarts/Harry Potter...... all the credit to the queen J.K. Rowling

**_Hawkthorne Court_**   was normally a very calm, charming residence. Each house surrounding the courtyard shared a similar gothic aesthetic. A candle burned in the attic window on the house furthest to the right. Sometimes, if the candle hit the window just the right way, it made the other houses look like they were on fire.

Hawkthorne Court kept to themselves and their steady lifestyle. They were comfortable living their quiet, happy life.

Things were not quiet and happy tonight.

The candle went out in a sudden  _~whoosh~_ of energy. Smoke barely began to rise from the spent wick before the attic window (along with the rest of the windows) shattered, and the flames began to reach outward.

The house was beautiful, in a way.

The flames eating the vines along the wooden banister, heating the moonlit air around it. As the flames began to eat the banister itself, two men burst from the doorway (the door, already on its hinges, was sent flying).

They made their way down to the courtyard in a whirlwind of sparks and hexes; each one yelling, firing spell after spell in a rapid display of graceful desperation.

It was almost like a show.

The neighbours poured from their respective houses. At first, they were too surprised to do anything except watch the morbid dance in front of the blazing home. A few drew their wands; they knew who to aim for.

"No!" Shouted one of the men. "You'll only get in the way!" The neighbours knew he was right. This was a duel for them.

A duel of brothers.

The neighbours instead turned their wands to the flaming house, which now showed that it had a mind of its own as the flames coiled into a snake and spat at its assaulters. 

Mothers ushered their children inside and bolted their doors. The children watched through bedroom windows.

The two men continued to dance in the light of the flames. Spells glanced off shields cast at the last second, creating a show of fireworks around them.

"This isn't you Izzy! You've let power go to your head!" Shouted the smaller of the two as he frantically cast protection spells, occasionally having enough time to throw in a jinx of his own.

"That's a lie!" Shouted the other. He viciously cut through the air with his magic. His elder brother's protection shields were only absorbing some of the shock of his hexes. His brother was out of practice.

"You've always thought yourself to be better-well prove it! Prove why you're the favorite, strike me down!". Purple light lit the younger brother's wand as a thick rope of flame shot towards his elder.

The elder's eyes were somber, but his face was set with resolve. He pointed his wand at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

" _Eructo_ "

A jet of water erupted into the flames. The younger faltered for a moment under the pressure, taken aback by the sudden resistance. It felt like pushing two magnets together. He knew that he was slightly more powerful than his brother, but he was off his balance now. If he continued this pushing match, his elder would win.

The younger broke the flames off with a snap of his wand and quickly redirected his focus onto another house. The fire shot towards it.

The statue in the courtyard shattered as the elder pulled water from within it, making a wall in front of the house. He looked back at his younger brother just in time to see the jinx leave his wand. Before he finished weaving a shield, it hit his forearm. His wand was forced into the air, and the muscles in his arm began to cramp painfully shut.

Now that his brother's wand was in the air, the younger took the time to weave a more complex curse. As his elder caught the wand with his left hand, a group of Aurors appeared in a circle around the two with a  _~CRACK~_  but it was too late.

The curse cast a bloody hue on the younger's face as it left. The uncontrollable flame roared in the light of his eyes like a bonfire.

The elder brother's body was thrown to the ground. He felt his bones snap from the impact of the blow, and his body began to convulse. He gripped the grass beneath him, his eyes wide and filled with agony.

The Aurors tried to  _stupefy_  his brother, but he had already disapparated.

The elder brother's body stopped convulsing, and he lay there-gripping the grass-his eyes cast upward into the stars. 


	2. The Crow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six Years Later

**_Emmett Poe_**   is not usually one to leave his room.

And why should he? It's comfortable there. He can get his parents to get his schoolbooks.

But Harper Crowe is persistent. And, unfortunately, she's been his best friend since he could remember.

Every year (a few weeks before the start of the new school year) Harper drags Emmett to Diagon Alley to buy the newest schoolbooks. This year, he'd much rather stay in bed and watch Netflix. But Harper won't stop texting him.

" _Come_ on" She begs him. " _I'm not going to look at the golden cauldrons this time_."

Emmett considers it, just to get her off his back.

" _Or any of those filthy trees and bugs you like to ponder over_?" He replies. Perhaps he will look at the list of required materials for his upcoming classes. He  _is_ going into his fourth year after all. But it's fun to watch Harper plead, so he resists a bit more. She doesn't know how to take 'No' for an answer.

" _Oh come now we need to go to the Apothecary don't we? Are you planning on skipping potions?_ " Harper shot back. She was right. Emmett bit his lip and sighed before he replied.

He always gives in eventually.

***

The Magical Menagerie was a loud, chaotic store. Owls ruffled their feathers and children darted from shelf to shelf, startling cats and holding frogs to each other's faces.

This is the exact opposite of what Emmett agreed to.

"I never promised I wouldn't drag you into the Menagerie, did I? Mum said I could pick out an owl this year." She was right, she never did promise to not bring him here. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Aren't they just gorgeous?" She said, looking at the mass of owls surrounded by children and adult alike. Her eyes took on a familiar glint. Cinnamon curls bounced as she turned to join the crowd.

Much to her mother's dismay, Harper's hair (and her quarters) were always a mess. Harper had given up on brushing her hair-she didn't have time for cosmetics, anyway.

That's what pissed Emmett off. She didn't have to try to be gorgeous. She often wore a ponytail when studying (she was always studying) to keep the hair out of her face, but it was down now. Harper showed her signature, cheeky, half-mouth smirk as she glanced back at Emmett. Her hazel eyes shone expectantly. Emmett could basically hear them in his head.

_Are you going to come or are you going to sit there like a lost pup?_

He followed her.

"Owls are so dated. You can just text whoever you're trying to send a letter to." He complained. That was usually how their conversations went- Emmett complained, and Harper found some witty way to call him an old man. But that was okay, she had enough youth for the both of them.

"You can't very well text a loaf of mum's banana bread, now can you?" She retorted. "What am I supposed to lick the picture?"

Emmett thought about replying, but Harper wasn't listening anymore. She had already found an owl that she liked. A grey Horned owl, to be exact. And it was ugly.

"Ooh! I think I might get this one- what do you think Emmett?" The bird almost seemed to be puffing its chest out, like it was enjoying the spotlight. Harper stroked its feathers; and its ego.

"I think it's downright horrifying. Look at its beady little eyes." Emmett took a step back from the owl. "I think it's glaring at me!"

"Oh come off it there must be some animal you find attractive yeah?" Harper had let the owl perch on her forearm. She fed it a sweet from her pocket. Leave it to Harper to make friends with anything she encounters.

As Harper went to pay for her new companion, Emmett was left to look at the messy excuse for a store. People and pets alike screamed together to create the perfect hell for Emmett. The noise (and the smell) began to give him a headache, so he turned to leave.

He didn't get far before a mass of black feathers collided with his face. Emmett screamed and swatted at the vicious assault, which began to shriek and flap its wings around his head. After a few moments, it landed on the shelf next to him.

Emmett finally got a good look at his attacker. A crow sat on top of a copy of  _You & Your Owl_. He ran his hand through the dark mop on his head nervously and looked around to see if anyone had noticed his blunder. They hadn't. Blood rose to his cheeks, anyway.

He turned back to the crow, who cast an eye upwards to Emmett, and met its gaze.

Looking into the crow's eyes was like looking at a mirror tinted with black-Emmett could see his own babyish features. He hated his face.

Freckles sprinkled his nose, which turned up at the end just the slightest. A scratch sat on his cheekbone, just below his eye, which was still watering and wide with curiosity. His cheeks sunk slightly when he bit his lip to keep it from quivering.

He narrowed his eyes at the bird and leaned closer. "I've half a mind to transfigure you to a pebble." Emmett frowned at it. The bird cocked its head at him, then planted a peck square on his forehead.

He jumped back and clutched the spot on his head. "Bloody bird." He muttered, checking his hand for blood.

Harper appeared next to him with her new owl, laughing. "You're not very good at making friends." She stated, holding a handful of skittles towards Emmett. "Offer it a sweet." She nodded encouragingly.

Cautiously, Emmett leaned over to the bird. He felt stupid holding a handful of sweets towards his two-time attacker. Especially since it wasn't eating them.

"You have to apologize first." Harper leaned down with him. It delicately took a skittle from her palm, then looked back expectantly at Emmett.

"Come off it." Emmett continued, not quite sure if he was talking to Harper or the bird. "Why should I have to apologize anyway, it attacked me first!"

He looked back at Harper, who raised her eyebrow at him. Her owl stopped picking at its feathers to look at Emmett. Perhaps he imagined it, but it looked as if it raised its own owl-eyebrow at him, too.

"Fine." He leaned back down to the crow. It cocked its head expectantly. "I'm sorry... that I threatened to turn you into a pebble." He looked back to Harper. She gestured to the sweets.

He held out his palm. "Would you like to taste the rainbow?" He asked. He felt silly, sitting there with his arm extended.

The bird considered the sweets, then swiftly took a blue one. It looked back up at Emmett.

"I think you've just made yourself a new friend!" Harper slapped Emmett on the back, causing him to drop the sweets. The crow squawked as if it were laughing at him. "What shall you name it?" The crow let her stroke its head.

"I've never given it much thought, it's not like I planned on waltzing into the menagerie and befriending the first bird to attack me." Emmett rubbed the spot on his forehead.

"How about...Corvus?" Harper offered.

"Corvus? Isn't that just Latin for crow?"

"Well I've named my owl here Ibis." Harper gestured towards her companion. It puffed out its feathers as if it was proud of its name.

Emmett looked back at the crow. "Corvus..." He said, his voice uncertain. It kind of had a ring to it. He caught the eye of the crow. "Corvus." He stated, more confidently this time around. "How does that sound?" He asked it.

He must have been imagining things again- he could have sworn it winked.


	3. The Letter

The First time Emmett stepped foot in the Ravenclaw common room, he instantly knew it would be his favorite of the castle.

Its wide, circular shape afforded perfect lighting from the towering windows on the far side. Blue and bronze accentuated the room in the form of drapery and carpet- on which plush, comfortable furniture resided.

Tables were strewn in an unorganized fashion; each supported a candle that never seemed to burn out. Bookshelves of varying content littered the walls, with the biggest of them sitting alongside a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in a semi-circular niche opposite the entrance. Lush sofas and leather chairs spread the polished stone floor- the majority of which surrounded the most comfortable fireplace Emmett had ever seen.

On either side of the fireplace were broad, elegant staircases- each leading to a balcony overlooking the room. Two plain wooden doors labeled 'Prefect's Quarters' interrupted the smooth stone brick wall (which was thick with school advertisements and reminders).

Despite such grandeur, nothing came equal to the mural of the night sky on the ceiling.

No one knows exactly when it got there, but rumor has it that a group of students painted it long ago to aid with their astrology homework. Its magnificence was underappreciated by most (as it's a common sight for any Ravenclaw), but Emmett particularly loved the night's sky.

He often snuck out of his dormitory late at night to trace the constellations with his fingers, keeping track of the various moons and planets dancing across the darkness.

It reminded him of the clearing his mother first showed him when he was 6 years old. Every time they visited, Emmett considered it a treat. Her voice echoed in his memory each time he gazed upward into the night.

"Whenever you find yourself upset," she would say, pushing the hair from his eyes, "no matter its perceived significance," Her face concealed her age, but her hands did not. They were calloused, with an aura of experience radiating over fresh wrinkles, "come outside and tell your worries to the sky, and you can let them go."

Her eyes were wise and welcoming. Her voice, accentuated with the rich hue of motherly love, carried the same tones of feisty energy she used to command the transfiguration classroom.

"The stars will take care of them." She said it so carefree; So factually. Emmett felt no reason to distrust her.

A sharp rap on the window behind Emmett brought his attention to the present.

A sleek shape of onyx aimed its eye at his, and struck the window once more. It didn't break eye contact. Just as Emmett began to get up, the nag of an all too familiar haughtiness harassed his ears.

"Let that thing inside before I notify Thomas of such disruptions." Oscar Charles, the common snitch, referred to Thomas Charles, the 5th year prefect (who happened to be his older brother).

Emmett didn't like Oscar.

According to Harper, he abused his relation to Thomas (who is just as annoyingly pompous as Oscar) to give himself a sense of power. Emmett provided no insight- he simply didn't care enough to care why Oscar acted like a spoiled git.

Harper proclaimed indifference as well, although she went out of her way to infantilize and humiliate him. Once, during their introductory potions lab as first years, she made Oscar cry. Harper, subdued by a fit of laughter, tried to whisper to Emmett the reason for his tears.

"I stole some of his ingredients." She managed between stifled laughs.

Upon further questioning, Harper revealed that she had steeped her agrimony too long and, having noted the shelfs held no more, switched Oscar's with a look-alike she had taken from the wall: the result thus being Oscar spitting out his potion while testing it in front of Linden.

More commonly referred to as 'Linden', Professor Linden was a sober and imposing man. His pedagogical presence thickened the atmosphere around him. His eyes were always expectant, and never satisfied. He turned these eyes upon Oscar with astonishment at his outburst.

The potion was supposed to make Oscar's tongue rapidly change colors, but all it did was swell to almost twice its normal size. His embarrassment was fierce: at first, he looked disgusted, then confused, and finally distressed as his predicament dawned on him. Saliva spilled over his hand as he scrutinized his notebook, searching for errors that were not present.

Upon recognition of the circumstance from his classmates, the opposite side of the room was filled with a sound of strained coughing.

Harper's thick curls shielded her face from view, juxtaposing its dark cinnamon against her light caramel hue (which, at the time, was tinged rose-pink). The failed attempts at muffling her laughter merited a dirty look from Linden as he tried to get Oscar to show him his tongue.

A hint of a smile sat on Emmett's lips as he recalled the memory, presently opening the window for Corvus to place the folded piece of parchment in his waiting hand. She cawed happily at Emmett and perched on his shoulder.

Emmett examined the paper to find a large L printed on the front.

Oscar slammed his book in response to the noise. Emmett rolled his eyes as he turned to face the source of anger.

"Oscar. Ugh" Emmett contained his contempt to continue to look at him. "Can I help you?" Emmett said.

"Hmph! If you can't silence that bloody crow, I'll make sure that all birds are banned from the common room." 

Emmett regarded Oscar's round, babyish eyes with indifference.His volume exemplified his petulance: on the path of an exponential growth since first year.

Oscar swelled in anger in response to Emmett's silence, but the latter was unperturbed; he was no more intimidated of Oscar than he was a common toad.

"Does that include bird-brains such as yourself?" Harper materialized from seemingly nowhere, as she often did.

Oscar choked on his surprise, sputtering out a stream of bewildered incoherency.

"Don't hurt yourself" Harper said, maneuvering past him towards Emmett. "Are you coming to try-outs?" She asked him.

"You know I hate them," he whined, "Can't you go without me?"

"And lose the support of my biggest fan? Certainly not!" She pulled at his wrist. "Try-outs start in an hour, you can help me practice in the meantime."

"What a privilege that would be." Emmett claimed sarcastically, releasing her hand from his wrist and returning to the letter in his grip.

He considered it for a moment, and decided to save it for later. He already knew he was going to follow Harper (suspecting she knew as well), but he was going to give her a hard time anyway.

"Come on, you weren't even doing anything! You were just sitting there staring out the window!" She pointed out.

"I was thinking, Harper. Thinking is something- Not that I would expect you to know." They made eye contact and then there was silence- which was soon broken by the swift onset of sibling-like sniggering.

"Thinking gets you nowhere." She chided. "It's doing that does."

"Perhaps your thinking takes you nowhere." He grinned slyly at Harper, who raised her eyebrow. "But doing and does is done through thought." He postulated with a satisfactory grin.

She thought for a moment, before punching him playfully and imploring him to 'Shut-up'.

"Only you would ponder semantics in an everyday conversation."

Emmett continued to grin, and they shared a look, both realizing at the same time they had entered a staring contest. Emmett won the exchange of words (per usual) so Harper meant to assert her dominance in a non-verbal manner. Emmett was not intent on letting that happen.

"You're a bunch of loonies." Came the snotty voice of Oscar, who seemed intent on moving his books elsewhere.

Harper taunted him up the steps towards the boy's dormitories, and the two proceeded to make their way out onto the castle grounds (Corvus trailing behind) where they filled the crisp October air with the youthful energy of their unrestricted laughter.


	4. Try-Outs

Elliot took a moment to marvel at the success of his first year leading the tryouts for the prestigious Ravenclaw Duel Team. He scanned his gaze across the different groups he had set up; the veterans (the ones whose skills Elliot himself could attest to) sparred on one side of the nearly empty room, while the younger and fresher faces made use of the various devices and drills which judged their traits as duelists. He already had an eye on two or three newcomers who he thought might have a chance at the Top Nine this year.

One mousy second year hadn't missed a single target on the agility course, and an unfamiliar fifth year cast a pretty solid shield charm. There was one particular girl, however, that he had been hoping to see.

She had stunned the entire school last year, becoming Ravenclaw's first second year to achieve Top Nine after she narrowly edged past Finley Levesque (who had lost against a Gryffindor) in her victory against the Slytherin favourite, Ruby Odessa, a charming 6th year with eyes that bled daggers and deadly deft hands that snatched snitches from the sky and forced people's wands in the air.

Elliot cherished the look on Ruby's face when that tiny girl, all curls and bounce, snatched her wand.

Everyone had expected Ruby to win. She was one win away from the third spot on Slytherin's squad, and it was almost a given. Some unknown second year girl, with too many freckles and too many words, was Ruby's last opportunity to score the three points separating her from her spot. She scored one before her wand went flying from her grip, as if a powerful magnet were pulling (or propelling) it away.

Everyone's eyes flew confusedly to Ruby's empty hand, then followed the wand's arc through the air in its path across the room. The crowd was so silent, you could hear the wood clattering as it met the floor.

Elliot was the first person to start laughing, contributing to the chorus of madness that erupted once reality set in. He made eye contact with the victorious ravenclaw as she sauntered through that crowd of people that inevitably forms as a result of some person's success. They are poked and prodded with questions and praise; their name is heard shouted from every direction (what was her name, again?), each person trying to attach themselves to that fountain of glory that splashes with each step forward.

Suddenly, Elliot was drawn back to the present by a loud bang at the front of the room. The doors had been flung open, despite one already being ajar, and in tumbled a mess of curls similar to the ones he had just been thinking about, along with the pale frame of her tiny partner.

The partner was not so tiny anymore.

"He must have grown, "Elliot thought to himself, "since she was taller than him last year". He could just see his curiously blue eyes from above that girl's cinnamon curls; a feat he was not able to accomplish last year when they stood side by side as they were (and often did).

He was upon them in a second.

"Pardon me, must you be so disruptive? The door was propped- pfft! What in the?" Elliott started as a black bird flew into his face. The crow landed at his feet and he stepped back in reproach. She pecked him a few times, or rather his shoes; then proceeded to establish eerie eye-contact.

Elliott felt uneasy looking into the beady black eyes of the bird; he disliked the expansiveness of the darkness, the mischievous mirror-like gleam in its eyes. It made him quite uneasy. Corvus cocked her head at him, and his attention was suddenly brought to the silence of the great room.

"Back to it!" He yelled, turning to address the room. "We still have fifteen more minutes!"

The helpers he had picked, Jalen and Naomi, regathered the attention of the newer recruits. The veterans resumed their dramatic efforts.

"What do you mean fifteen minutes left?" Harper interjected. "Why is everyone started already? I thought we were early!" she called out in dismay.

"Try-outs started thirty minutes ago. It was clearly stated on the flyer. If you two really wanted to make the team you would've been more scrupulous."

"Ah- I'm not trying out! I'm just kinda here" Emmett sputtered in excitement. Elliott turned his attention upon him, and Emmett sank back into silence.

Emmett had already been blushing at the glances people were giving Corvus (who was perched on his shoulder). The emergence of Elliott's intense gaze stirred a sense of awe and fear inside Emmett's chest.

He sucked in air as his stomach fell and he slid next to Harper.

Physically, Elliott wasn't very intimidating or awe-inspiring. Somewhat taller than average, and substantially skinnier, Elliott's physical features counteracted his attempts to remain inconspicuous. He had a shock of red hair that was always perfect when he walked through the common room to get to class. It was as if every morning an artist painted it there.

Elliott's eyes were a pale blue, although sometimes they looked gray. He didn't give much attention to the people around him, but when he did, his gaze was so fierce it made even some of the professors uncomfortable. His eyes turn to steel and his face conveys no image. It gives one the sense that he's flipping angrily through the pages of their mind like a magazine that he's not particularly interested in yet continues to search for something of importance.

Emmett trembled under this gaze currently, while Harper tried to regain his attention.

Elliott had been musing to himself how peculiar it was that even though her partner was a good couple of inches taller than her, he moved behind her as if to hide himself. Elliott suppressed a smirk at seeing his scared, blue-eyes peering over the top of her curls.

"Can't he tell I can still see him?" Elliott thought.

"I thought the flyer said it started at 3:30! You have to let me on the team." Harper begged.

"Actually," he said, "I don't have to do anything. It's not my fault if you can't read a flyer properly." Elliott turned his back to the pair with his last word, but Harper yelled out again.

"But I was Top Nine last year! I've gotten loads stronger! You'll need me on the team this year, I'll make it to Top Three!" Elliott stopped and allowed himself a chuckle. He turned to consider the two. Corvus fluttered from Emmett's shoulder to Harper's, who held out a sweet in her palm.

Corvus carefully ate the sweet and ruffled her feathers. Elliott chanced a glance and was met again with that uncomfortable openness and understanding. He slid his eyes over Emmett's timid frame before glaring back at Harper.

"You may join the team again, but not as a Top Nine. You were late". Harper, of course, resisted.

"I'll duel for my spot! I can take Eight or Nine no problem." She proclaimed confidently. Elliott let the slightest hint of amusement pass into his face as he thought to himself.

"She'll duel, will she?"


End file.
